Josué 7:5

5 Y los de Hai hirieron de ellos como treinta y seis hombres, y los siguieron desde la puerta hasta Sebarim, y los mataron en una bajada; por lo que se disolvió el corazón del pueblo, y vino a ser como agua

Josué 7:5 Meaning and Commentary

Joshua 7:5

And the men of Ai smote of them about thirty and six men
In the pursuit of them, which were but few, but a sufficient rebuke of Providence; their loss was but small, but their shame and disgrace great:

for they chased them [from] before the gate;
the gate of the city of Ai:

[even] unto Shebarim;
not that there was a place of this name before, but it was so called from hence, because there they were broken, as Kimchi observes; and the Targum and Jarchi render it,

``until they were broken,''

their lines broken, not being able to retreat in order, but were scattered, and fled to their camp as they could: Gussetius ^F17 thinks it was the; name of a place, but not so called for the above reason, but because there lay broken pieces of the rock scattered about:

and smote them in the going down;
the hill from Ai; "Morad", rendered "going down", may taken for the proper name of a place, and which, Kimchi says, was a place before Ai, in which there was a declivity and descent, and in that place they smote them when they fled:

wherefore the hearts of the people melted, and became as water;
that is, the whole body of the people, when this little army returned defeated, their spirits failed them, their courage was lost, their nerves were loosed, and they became languid, faint, and feeble; not that their loss was so great, but that they perceived God had forsaken them, and what the issue of this would be they dreaded.

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FOOTNOTES:

F17 Comment. Ebr. p. 825.

Josué 7:5 In-Context

3 Y volviendo a Josué, le dijeron: No suba todo el pueblo, mas suban como dos mil o como tres mil hombres, y tomarán a Hai; no fatigues a todo el pueblo yendo allí, porque son pocos

4 Y subieron allá del pueblo como tres mil hombres, los cuales huyeron delante de los de Hai

5 Y los de Hai hirieron de ellos como treinta y seis hombres, y los siguieron desde la puerta hasta Sebarim, y los mataron en una bajada; por lo que se disolvió el corazón del pueblo, y vino a ser como agua

6 Entonces Josué rompió sus vestidos, y se postró en tierra sobre su rostro delante del arca del SEÑOR hasta la tarde, él y los ancianos de Israel; echando polvo sobre sus cabezas

7 Y Josué dijo: ¡Ah, Señor DIOS! ¿Por qué hiciste pasar a este pueblo el Jordán, para entregarnos en las manos de los amorreos, que nos destruyan? ¡Mejor nos hubiéramos quedado al otro lado del Jordán